5 Inspiring Christmas Traditions

Read how real families celebrate their holiday with spirit

Christmas is a magical time, full of family, friends and, most of all, traditions. This year, discover how five families choose to celebrate the beloved holiday, from a more traditional candlelit event to a zip-lining adventure.

The Vordenberg Family Tradition: A Birthday Party for Jesus

When Holly and Steven Vordenberg's daughter, Olivia, was 3 years old, she was terrified of Santa. But rather than trying to change her mind with arguments (He's jolly! The reindeer are friendly!), they created a new Christmas morning tradition.

Instead of waking up to piles of presents left by a guy in a red suit, the Vordenbergs' girls— Olivia, now 14, Krista, 11, and Emma, 9—find an enchanting world where their toys have come to life. A monkey rides a zip line across the living room. A doll juggles random kitchen items. All of the scenes lead to the base of the Christmas tree, where a stuffed bear sits in a chair holding a sign that reads, "Happy Birthday, Jesus."

"We wanted to focus on the real meaning of Christmas, to capture the magic without the commercialism," says Amherst, New Hampshire, resident Holly, 47. Steven, 47, who is the creative mastermind, sneaks into the girls' rooms after they fall asleep to get their toys, then stays up for hours creating the scenes.

Once the girls wake up, they move through the scenes, delighting in the magical parade they seem to have interrupted. "Steven has kept up with the times as the girls have grown up. Now there are animals listening to iPods," says Holly. "But it's just so fun to see them experience it, and we love that it all leads to a birthday party. And yes, we sing 'Happy Birthday' to Jesus." The family does open stocking gifts and presents from family members later in the day, but the morning is still the sweetest time. Of course, it helps that they eat birthday cake for breakfast!

The Bundy Family Tradition: Father-Daughter Gingerbread House Making

Holly Bundy's father, Perry Beeson, went to architecture school for two years before becoming a dentist. That's an important detail to keep in mind when Holly, 33, is discussing their father-daughter tradition of making gingerbread houses at Christmas. Case in point: He helped her create a replica of the family's home in Morganton, North Carolina—and then used dental tools for the detail work.

"He made my dollhouse when I was little, and he always let me help with projects in his woodshop. That was my special time with him," says Holly. So when she was in college and decided to construct a gingerbread house, she knew whom to call for backup. "Just getting the walls to stand up is hard," she says.

Initially, Holly and Perry, 64, followed patterns from a book, but over the past 12 years, they began to create their own, including the one of the family home. It helped that Perry designed the house and had the blueprints handy. Other things they've figured out: Sawing wall edges at a 45-degree angle makes it easier to stick them together. Hot, caramelized sugar, poured onto a silicone baking sheet, creates delicate windows. And root beer–flavored Jelly Bellys make the best bricks.

In addition to baking, the pair started another tradition: visiting the National Gingerbread House Competition in Asheville, North Carolina. "It's impressive. Everything has to be edible; no cardboard! I've gotten some ideas, like how to make a fence from sugar cubes," says Holly.

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While Holly's husband, Clint, 33, has gone with the pair to the competition, the house is still a two-man (er, woman) project—but not for long. Holly is expecting a daughter. She's due on Christmas Day.

The Davidson Family Tradition: A Candlelit Dinner for Friends on Christmas

Punk Davidson remembers the one time—in 40 years—she hired caterers to handle her annual candlelight party on December 25. It was 1976, and her second daughter, Lee, had been born in November. Shannon, her first, was a year old. "It was a disaster," she says. Apparently, guests loaded up their plates and sat down to eat. There was less mingling and laughing around the food (which, Punk says, wasn't nearly as delicious and bountiful as the ham and turkey they cooked every year). And that was that: no more caterers.

Punk and her husband, Junius, threw their first Christmasnight party at their home in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1965, the year they got married, as a way to have both sets of their parents come to one place. But it quickly grew. "We just told people to come by," she says. "Over the years, it got bigger and bigger. Still, everyone who came meant something to us. No one was just an acquaintance."

Each year, they lit candles, built a fire and turned off all the lights except two: one over the sink and another in the powder room. The menu rarely changed (ham, turkey and later a rum cake courtesy of Lee), there was always a cedar tree, and Junius, a Master Gardener, made a holly wreath for the front door.

After Shannon got married, Punk and Junius made a decision that ended their 40-year tradition: They'd go to Raleigh, North Carolina, to spend Christmas with Shannon and her husband, Jeremy. Canceling the party was almost as hard as throwing it. "I had to call everybody I know," says Punk. "Because invitation or not, they'd show up!"

The Fawson Family Tradition: Hanging an Advent Wreath and Making Hallacas

AmberLee Fawson has two traditions passed down from her grandparents, who immigrated to Venezuela from Germany during World War II. Both, coincidentally, involve open flames.

"One year my sister's hair caught on fire," AmberLee, 32, says about her Advent wreath, a German tradition, which she suspends from the ceiling over the table in her Loomis, California, home. Her family—husband Brent, 33, and kids Kate, 7, Daniel, 5, and Reid, 1—light one candle every Sunday for four weeks before Christmas.

Once Christmas Eve arrives, their second tradition—making hallacas, a dish Venezuelans serve for the holiday—gets into full swing at her parents' house in Boise, Idaho. Similar to tamales, hallacas involve stewing meat and vegetables, then wrapping them in corn dough and banana leaves (go to WomansDay.com/hallacas for her recipe). "We have a long assembly line. Some people spread the dough, others wrap banana leaves," says AmberLee, who writes the GiversLog.com blog. "And my dad puts on his Latin music and dances. It's an all-day party." Once assembled, the hallacas are boiled over an open fire in the backyard and eaten for dinner.

The first year AmberLee spent Christmas with her in-laws, "they bought the ingredients and laid them all out for me!" she says. The only thing missing? One boisterous assembly line.

The Beverage Family Tradition: Going Antiquing for Mom's Gift

On Christmas Eve in 1984, Morris Beverage did a brave thing. He put his three children—Morris III, 6, Elizabeth, 4, and Charity, 2—in the car and went shopping. His plan was to let the kids buy a gift for their mom, Connie, now 55. But hitting the mall seemed too hectic. "We drove to Chardon, a town about 30 miles away from our home in Mentor, Ohio. The coffee shops and antique stores were about the only things open," says Morris, 56. The kids ate pie and bought a few tchotchkes for Mom. The next year, they wanted to go antique shopping again.

Although the trip became a yearly tradition, Morris didn't realize how important it was to his children until they were teenagers. "They had their own lives and activities, and still, at least one of them would come with me," he says.

Now, 26 years after the first trip, the family still walks the same route through their favorite store, Antiques on the Square: middle floor, basement, then second floor, picking up antique candleholders, pitchers and books for Connie, who's never been on the trip. Not that it's lost on her. "Morris usually views my antiques as clutter," she says, "so it's truly a labor of love for him."

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